Cassiopeia
by Mister Evil
Summary: Cassandra Piety, Age:23, Job: Superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Its hard to make friends in times like these but somehow she does and even contracts a few drama bombs on the way. Thor/OC/Steve No Jane likely, soul mate fic. (Extremis Virus taken out of comics)
1. Chapter 1

CASSANDRA STORY

THOR/OC

Before I'd been picked up with S.H.E.I.L.D, or Nick Fury more like, things had been rough all the way up to full on shitty. Illegal experimentation on humans wasn't in the past like we all thought, it was very much alive and quite the lucrative business when theres desperate people looking for some cash or room and board. The homeless are easy to pick off, no identity, no one wondering where they are, nothing to come back and look for them.

I mean, life was generally much easier than this. I was always crouched near Interstate 35 going into Texas with nothing more than a backpack and a cardboard sign that said " **No Cash, need ride to Austin** " that kept bending every time a car sped past me doing 90. It sucked. My back hurt, my ass hurt, and my lungs hurt from the lovely fumes.

How did I get to this point you may ask?

I had a job at one time, I got to answer phones for a larger paper-mill company outside of Austin but then things kept getting scaled back. Workers were laid off and I refused to go to my parents in California. I wouldn't. I couldn't. All they'd do is critique me for what I could have done better now that I was a good month into being homeless.

"Need a ride?" I jumped a bit as I took into account that a car had actually pulled up alongside me in my day dreaming. Maybe inhaling all these exhaust fumes and rubber burning had actually killed off half of my brain cells.

"I do, I don't have anything to repay you though." I confessed quickly, not moving towards the brown haired man in the car still. He was mildly attractive in a sort of young Burt Reynolds with no facial hair. Not entirely my type but I guess he was alright.

"Thats fine. I actually have a proposition for you." He shrugged and gave me a half grin. Scratch that, not attractive at all.

"I'm not a prostitute." I narrowed my eyes and felt my jaw clench up as he raised a hand to me quickly. My frustration with these circumstances were starting to over-spill onto my ability to pick out what was worth a fight and what wasn't.

"Sorry, I should explain. This has nothing to do with sexual endeavors, Miss...?" He raised a brow as he spoke loudly over the sound of traffic zooming by us.

"Piety." I responded slowly, feeling the cough resurface in my lungs and the grumbling of my stomach.

"Well Miss Piety, come on in and we can discuss this over lunch." He gave me a slow coaxing smile as I considered this. I mean, I wanted a ride but I also didn't really want to die today. My stomach growled again and I somehow found myself getting into the car with this stranger. Good call, Cass. Good. Call.

000000000000000000000000000

"So its just some drug trials?" I raised a brow as I finished my plate of tacos and the nachos sitting next to it. I hadn't eaten in a day or two and my body was demanding I pounded some food down before I felt like I'd kill over. My blood sugar has a habit of dropping out from under me.

"For a few months, up to a year of in house monitoring. You wouldn't be able to leave the compound, obviously." He'd introduced himself as Dr Aldrich Killian with a company called FuturePharm. He seemed nice enough as he explained what would be happening to me but so far, the only downfall was that I'd essentially be a caged bird for maybe a year.

"And I'm getting paid per _hour_ for this whole thing?" I raised a brow, still checking if I understood him right.

"Thats correct, Miss Piety. Take a moment to look at the fine print though." Dr Killian motioned to the stack of paper between us. My eyes darted down to the contract in front of me, I couldn't talk about this little trial to anyone else but those involved directly which included the millionaire playboy, Tony Stark. He apparently owned the main company.

Now that was a dream boat of a man. Smart, exciting, sexy, and rich. I was really into wealth right now but I had a feeling that was just because I had none. I mean why else was I even considering this thing? It was sketchy. I'd essentially disappear for a year and I'd done so willingly. I had no idea of any side effects? What if I grew 4 other arms with this thing?

I took in a deep breath as I flipped to what my salary would be like after taxes. 87,000 dollars. That was a lot of money. That was more money than I'd ever seen in my entire life as my own. I picked up the pen shakily, and signed my name on the dotted line in a flash.

"Lovely. Whenever you're finished Miss Piety, we'll take you to FuturePharm's building here in Austin and get started." Dr Killian smiled as he scooped up the pages and placed them in a sealed briefcase. Regret rushed through my veins as I sipped my water again.

Good god. What am I doing?

000000000000000000000000000

"We're just going to strap you in right here, alright?" A female I'd come to know as Maya Hansen was using her honey coated voice to coax me back onto the medical table again. I almost wanted to scream and yell for everything to stop, I didn't want to do this anymore. It looked painful and scary with monitors everywhere showing a flatline and 0s.

"Right." I sighed as I slowly laid down on the table, trying to control my heartbeat as she locked down little metal belts over my torso and lower half. This was the make or break moment. Either I was successful in combining this virus of sorts with me and I was paid or I wasn't and this was for nothing.

I'd been through vigorous testing to see if I was even compatible or something with this new technology the doctors were calling the Extremis Virus. Nutrition, weight, height, mental stability, pain tolerance, morality, it felt like the FBI were field testing me for some sort of life or death mission at this point. It wasn't even a virus, it was little robots from what I'd gotten.

"So we'll stand you up now, and inject the serum." Dr Hansen continued smoothly, her bedside manner was alright I guess. I didn't particularly care one way or another as she applied little monitors for my heart rate, blood pressure, and an IV.

My heart rate was a little fast for a 21 year old female in a resting position at 117 beats per minute. They could totally tell I was terrified right now, just by the beeping alone that increased as I came to a standing position with the base of my neck exposed.

"Test Subject 0, Cassandra Piety, aged 21 years old." Killian addressed the cameras watching me in this process in a disconnected voice and turned towards Hansen and I.

"Preparing injection site now." Hansen called out as Killian loaded up what looked like a pocket pistol with a tube of something black. Her honeyed tones were gone now, she was back to doctor mode I guess. The beeping of my heart-rate monitor went a few beats faster as Killian handed her the loaded gun now.

I held my breath as she wiped down the area, it felt cold and the smell of rubbing alcohol drifted through my senses. I stared at the camera for a second until I felt the metal pressing against my neck. A metallic firing sound went off as I felt a sting, forcing my eyes shut out of a nauseating panic.

"Nano-tech serum injected." Hansen called as Killian wrote something down and noted the time. I want to go home, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't know how much time passed but at first I felt nothing but the feeling of something rushing through my veins. Then a hot pain started, like I'd been struck my lightning from the back of my neck, down my back and to every limb it could reach.

"It hurts." I gasped as my body thrashed from invisible waves of pain and shock. I felt like I'd stuck my hand into an electric socket.

"Phase 1 started at 11:59 AM." Killian called out as he glanced at my monitors and jotted something down on his notepad. This continued for far to long, making me feel the need to cough. I coughed harder and harder as I lost control of my limbs and functions entirely, it all hurt and I felt like a puppet on strings as blood spilled out of my mouth.

"Former Genetic code expelled." Hansen called out now as she dabbed around my mouth with little expression as I choked on the viscous liquid. Fear grated through my mind while I struggled to breath but oddly, the beeping from my heart-rate monitor had slowed. Was I dying? I could die of blood-loss, right?

"Am I d-d-dying?" I asked wheezing between the coughs. She did not respond. If anything she outright ignored my question, acting like she hadn't heard a thing at all. I'm dying.

"Phase 2 at 12:45 PM." Killian called now as my eyes darted to the monitor behind the deadened woman. I'd dropped to 59 beats per minute and it was 12:45 in the afternoon. When did we start this? Had I been coughing since this morning? Am I going to die? I coughed harded, feeling a pop in my chest and decided that I might as well have blown a lung.

I heaved again as I coughed for what seemed like the last time. I couldn't breath but the panic was subsiding. I supposed I was dying because I didn't feel the hot stings anymore. I didn't feel anything at all. Maybe death wasn't as bad as we all thought. Maybe this was better than what I'd done to myself. for money.

An oxygen mask was placed over my mouth and nose as I blinked blearily at the brown haired women next to me. She looked curious, not concerned for me as I slowed my breathing. She didn't care if I lived or died and suddenly I didn't either. I just wanted to sleep.

I wonder if my parents ever checked for me when I didn't call last month.


	2. Chapter 2

I think I'm alone now. Alone in this weird casket kind of thing thats surrounding my entire body. It felt restrictive but it wasn't truly touching me, I still felt the monitors and the IV's needle in my arm when I moved slowly. I felt warm but not too warm. Was this death?

I felt an itch on my leg but couldn't reach it. Maybe this is hell. You're forever in the dark with an itch that you'll never be able to scratch. Why am I in hell? I tried to be a good person!

My breath hiked as I felt annoyance pulse through me, my fists balled up as I almost growled to myself. My balled fists began to heat before I'd simply had enough of this waiting game, I wanted out and I wanted answers. I didn't deserve this. I began pushing at my shell, at first softly but then I got more and more irritated with my lack of progress and began attempting to rip it apart.

The light burned my eyes with it's sharp whiteness, it felt cold but the room sounded empty except for me. I blinked a few times for my eyes to adjust. This wasn't really the same room I thought I'd passed out in in, this one was much more metallic with a mirror separating me and the other side. I saw myself, I was glowing a soft red but I was ashey looking in my pale skin and blonde hair.

My eyes looked both irritated in the whites as well as though it was on fire in the iris which scared me a little but I was more scared by the fact that I was totally naked. I looked back towards my shell quickly to find ashes spilled out around the bottom, it seemed like maybe my clothes had been burned off my body.

What the hell? Where am I? What happened? Pulling off the wires and tubes from my skin, I was done with being hooked up like a test subject as I walked up to the mirror in front of me.

I was attempting to somewhat shield myself from the possible viewers with my arms and hands. I stared for the longest time, taking into account how my eyes looked like they held fire in them and how my cheek kept a continuously more potent glow about it the more I focused on it. I looked down at my hands to find them glowing as well though they were lighter, like a shimmer of light.

I relaxed my right hand, taking in my palm and focusing on it. It began glowing a brighter and brighter red, the faint outline of my veins and bones were seen through patchy looking skin. Like I was shining a light through it from the other-side of my hand. I turned my hand over, looking at the back and checking for any such light.

There was nothing but my skin being stretched over what looked to be red hot metal. I pressed it to the glass and watched in fascination as my finger tips and palm began melting the mirror. How am I _doing_ this?

"Please step away from the glass." An irritated voice scared me from the speakers that I didn't notice above me. I jumped back, letting my hand fall and stared up at the ceiling. I spotted 2 speakers, one near the glass wall in front of me and one on the concrete behind me.

"Miss Piety, do you remember me?" Another voice startled me, more feminine this time. I spun around, meeting eyes with Ms Hansen, she held another clipboard that she'd already begun writing notes on. She didn't seem at all alarmed, rather she seemed like she was merely waiting for me to respond.

"Yes." I whispered as I stared back down at my hands in confusion.

"What happened to me?" I looked back up at her as she nodded to no one in particular.

"Thats something we're hoping to find out." She gave me a small smile as several men came into the room, they looked to be quite a bit stronger and bigger than me which was scary.

"What are you doing?" My voice became sharper with fear guiding it as the men came closer.

"This is just a precautionary step Miss Piety, not everyone can just melt bullet-proof glass with just their hand." She called out lightly, looking very much in control and calm about the situation I was currently in.

"Right." I mumbled as I crossed my arms back over my naked body once more, feeling even more self-conscious and distraught than I thought possible.

* * *

Many of my days were spent with tests and trials, so many in fact that I found myself hating this place more and more. No one would tell me how much time had passed and I couldn't see what was outside these walls. There were no windows where I was kept.

Ironically, funding was cut to FuturePharm when Stark found out what exactly was happening there and it was shut down in the most dramatic of ways. This was just like my previous job except for the fact that I was now able to lift cars, regrow limbs, and melt anything with my touch. I was quite terrified when Killian cut off my forearm the first time, shock made me freeze but anger made me want to scar him.

I made sure his face was scarred by my hand, even though the arm regrew in minutes, the feeling of being someone's lab rat never truly left me. I don't like being watched, I don't like being tested again and again.

The day I got to leave FuturePharm was the same day I'd burned Killian's face with a vengeance and had been dragged back to my room in a fist fight. I was unhappy as I thought I could be by then.

 _I paced in my area, wondering how far I could get if I just started pushing my way through the walls of this prison._

 _I paused in my steps as my ears picked up little muted pops, I didn't know what they were from but there was quite a few in a rapid fashion. I pressed my ear against the reinforced steel door in an attempt to hear more of what was outside my door. Voices shouting in chaos, more bangs but louder this time. It sounded like a mad house was nearing my hallway and by effect, my room._

 _A few more minutes passed and I heard an explosion that made me dart away from the door quickly. I pooled heat across my arms as well as I could in preparation for whatever or whoever was going to break down my door. This was it, I was either going to die or I'd get out of here and have to disappear._

 _"I'll open it for you!" I recognized Dr Maya Hansen's voice through the door now, she had actual emotions it seemed. She sounded stressed and scared. Who knew she could actually feel those things, right? A card was swiped and the door swung open to reveal the good doctor shaking to the right with a shorter brunette man who seemed to be balding ever so slightly on top._

 _"I'm agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, we are here to release you as you were brought here under false pretenses and illegally experimented on by FuturePharm. If you resist, I will be forced to use force against your person." This man flashed a shiny badge at me and waited as I actually took into account as to what he said._

 _"Oh." I mumbled, letting it sink in that I might actually get to leave here._

 _"How...how long has it been since...September 9th?" I asked as I let my arms relax. It was an odd feeling, sensing heat just recede back into the center of your bones.  
_

 _"Today's date is May 15th, 2011." The agent responded with pursed lips. He looked almost like he pitied me which was the first bit of actual emotion I'd seen in months. I began nodding as I raised my arms up in surrender, it dawned on me that I missed Christmas. Damn._

Nick Fury acted as my savior for a time. He pulled me out of there unofficially, gave me a new life, trained me up, and even paid me for all of it. I feel like I'm living the high life these days honestly, the only thing that sucked was training with regular people.

I was stronger and faster from the little bots controlling my nervous system which made me harder to deal with when I got stressed out, I burned people by accident. Natasha Romanoff was really the only person I could fight equally with. She had pure skill but I was built up like a weapon to destroy everything and that kinda turned anyone off from training with me.

I loved this life, or rather I'd hated my old one, so much so that when agents came banging down my door I almost cried out of joy, I was free. Phil Coulson was one of the first faces I saw that didn't hide under a mask or belong to a doctor. It only made sense that I'd be here, in another lab full of doctors with both Agent Coulson and Agent Barton for Fury.


	3. Chapter 3

I mainly stood around the outskirts of this lab, being regarded with as much attention as one does as a decorative wall fixture in one's house. I get an "Oh, interesting" the first time, then I'm just ignored as everyone goes about their business. I think it's my eyes. Sometimes, if I'm not completely mellowed out, they start to look a bit like two rings of fire on my face which is a little off-putting for most people.

"EVACUATE THE FACILITY." A loud female voice echoed over the speakers above us, scaring me slightly. Why would we need to evacuate? I furrowed my brow as I searched for Selvig through the scurrying lab-coats.

"What do these mean? Whats going on?" I paused Dr Selvig as he jotted down some numbers coming off in rings around the little blue cube that apparently meant so much to everyone here to the point that we'd all have to leave now.

"They're gamma radiation signatures. They tell us that the cube is acting up." He explained in a pleasant tone as I ah'd and retracted my gloved hands.

"Acting up how?" I imagined I was quite annoying but I was curious which Selvig seemed to love about me. Barton wasn't interested in the up close and personal, really only talking to me or his family on the phone.

"It's turned itself on." He responded in a more stressed out tone now, as he jotted down larger numbers than before. I pursed my lips and nodded, taking a few steps back and continuing my rounds around the facility.

I walked around for a bit meandering between desks and little worker bee lab recruits who were all running around in a we-must-leave-now fashion. They seemed a little taken aback sometimes but that was probably just because I was their security detail in black tactical gear.

Or at least thats what I liked to tell myself, made me feel a little better than everyone being afraid of me. Natasha said that was a good thing, that fear meant they respected me and the threat I posed but I just didn't feel the same. Maybe I needed some friends.

"Fury's on the floor." Barton's voice spoke softly into my ear piece, forcing my eyes to dart towards the entrance. Fury was always a little dramatic with his leather duster jacket and the eye-patch and the bald head, he screamed of 'supervillain' but his actions were typically on the side of lawful if not just a little chaotic at that.

"Sir." I saluted as he walked past. I guessed he'd heard about the evac bit that I'd just heard maybe 15 minutes ago. Man moved fast.

"Agent Piety, report." He stopped for a moment, waiting on my report.

"Nothing new, cube's having a bit of a day though." I remarked warily.

"What do you mean?" He raised a brow at that, which was fair. I'd just been down here for a few days so I kinda forgot that not everyone knew what I meant immediately. I mean did I even really know what that meant? It sounded bad. Like evacuation-level bad.

"You'd be better off talking to Dr Selvig." I nodded towards the balding Scandinavian looking man who was hunched over a computer with a herd of other lab rats to the left of us.

"And how have _you_ been?" Fury regarded me with curiosity, looking over my person over all as I shrugged.

"Fine, I guess." I furrowed my brow, not entirely sure why he'd be asking.

"Been keepin' your heat in check?" He stood a little taller as he waited for me to answer, searching my eyes. Right! I'd forgotten about that little issue.

"Pretty sure, sir." I nodded slowly as I waited for him to pick up on some kind of lie in my posture or words.

"Alright. Good job, Agent." He nodded and continued walking briskly towards the doctor herd to our left. I guess that answer had been good enough for him then because he didn't even look back at me. Sometimes my issue worried me but others, I felt at peace with it. I guess my only problem in this state, was that I could literally explode from overheating which equated out to literally exploding from stress.

I'm a naturally stressed out person, my situation only made that all the more crystal-clear for everyone surrounding me. I'm sure Natasha's burns reminded her of that little fact every-time she looked in the mirror.

Sometimes I wondered if it was just me or if anyone else like me had that issue too. I knew there were other subjects, other people who'd been injected with the Extremis Virus but I'd been the first subject to survive. I only knew because I'd been briefed on that when I was deemed stable enough to handle any news regarding my captivity.

I paused my walking as I heard a snap of sorts from behind me, I looked back at the cube and frowned. It did look different yesterday. In fact it'd looked different this morning, it seemed to be spitting out whips of blue mist now. How hadn't I noticed this?

I took a few steps closer towards the cube when suddenly the Tesseract began thundering, shaking the entire facility. I was now panicking, this was definitely not normal for it. I started towards Fury and Barton in hopes they'd know what the hell was going on right now when the Tesseract began flaring even more.

It seemed a bit like a boiling pot of water, spitting out louder snaps and disorienting pops in flares and rings around itself. It seemed to reach it's maximum when a beam shot out from the center of it, it darted across the open space in front up to a platform. The beam seemed to fire at the platform with some fury, scaring me even more so as I started jogging towards Fury and co.

The beam appeared to be opening a hole of some kind, a black hole of nothingness could be seen from where we were. I swear I could see stars in it, making me want to come closer but I forced myself to stop just ahead of my director clumsily. Suddenly a gust of blue smoke filled the room, blinding me for a few seconds and choking my lungs in a vice grip.

I began coughing during the absolute quiet while the cloud disappeared. I felt heat filling my lungs in a bit of fear as I heard breathing coming from the platform now. It was heavy, laboured even, as though the breather had just ran a few miles.

A man with greasy looking black hair raised his head in a quirky smile at us all, like he'd been expecting us. The smile slowly died, on his pale and shallow face, as he stared at me. His eyes darted back towards Fury, Barton, and the doctor. I jerked a tad as he stood up slowly, holding a scepter with a blue orb in the top, it reminded me of the Tesseract in colour.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury was the first to respond to the eccentrically dressed newcomer. It was pleading almost, which seemed to only piss this guy off as he glanced at his spear then pointed it towards our director.

I took a step to the side right as it shot out a blue exploding light towards us. All hell suddenly broke lose as I looked back to find Barton and Fury barely missed the shot, I spun to look back in front of me right as this man jumped towards me, the spear at the ready. I felt my eyes enlarge a few sizes at the size of his jump, he wasn't human. Heat gathered deeper in my lungs as we made eye-contact, he was too close to me.

I panicked and attempted to shove him backwards, fumbling slightly and falling backwards as a machine gun began firing at him. The bullets fell off of him like he was bulletproof himself, that was terrifying. I stood up the same time he did, and tried to channel all my heat into my hands as I began to try and hit him. He looked mildly confused with me as he dodged every jab and swing.

He swung his spear and hit me across the face hard enough to jerk my head to the side, angering me at the sting it left. I began huffing as he continued to fire bursts of blue light behind me, his eyes glanced down back at me right as I opened my mouth and literally fumed hot yellow fire up at him. I heard a grunt and watched as he covered his face with his hands and the scepter.

I blinked as he picked me up, grunting as he flung me into monitors. I spun over the electronics and the desks in a haze of panic. I stood up haphazardly, tripping over exposed wires to see that the lab had gone all to shit within a few minutes of him arriving. He was powerful. More powerful than I really liked in an enemy.

"Barton!" I yell for him to turn around, right as the new comer stalked up to him. I watched as my companion tried to grab his weapon but fumbled when his arm had been pinned, dropping it. I sputtered as the black-haired man pointed his spear towards Barton and froze him for a second, blue lines carried up to his eyes and turned them black as the man let him go.

Why wasn't Barton fighting him? What was he waiting on?! I growled and shoved myself over the desk right as Barton picked up his gun and stored it in his thigh holdster. What...what the hell? I stopped for a moment, staring at him in confusion. I watched as the man turned and repeated the same ministration on another Shield agent's chest. He...he controlled them some how. he'd turned them!

"Please don't. I still need that." The man spoke softly, turning his head to the right. I followed his eyes to see Fury carrying a briefcase, I could only assume the cube was locked inside it.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury turned towards the man, locking eyes with me for a second. I got the memo and began heating myself as quickly as I could, it seemed that while bullets didn't work, fire did and I was practically made of fire.

 **"** Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." This Loki was arrogant, more so than I enjoyed. I threw off my gloves quietly, pooling heat where ever I could use to hit them with.

 **"** Loki? Brother of Thor?" Dr Selvig's curiosity drew attention to him again. Does this mean hes a God?

 **"** We have no quarrel with your people." Fury continued his odd peace talk in an attempt to distract the...thing. I refused to call him a god, it gave him too much power.

 **"** An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki retorted irritated now it seemed but still oddly peaceful.

"You planning to step on us?" Fury's feathers seemed to bristle at that, which meant mine did as well. I stood maybe a centimeter higher as I stared at Loki.

 **"** I come with glad tidings, of a world made free." Loki continued, taking a turn towards Selvig.

"Free from what?" Fury grunted at the man.

 **"** Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." Like a gunslinger, Loki faced Dr Selvig who had been standing behind him and placed his spear against Selvig's heart. I watched as the same thing happened to the doctor as it had to Barton. Selvig's eyes glow black then faded to a bright blue.

"You will know peace." Loki finished as he turned back towards us.

 **"** Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Fury called out, challenging his idea of peace.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us." Barton began to mean business, glancing behind me and reporting back to his new boss I suppose.

 **"** Like The Pharaohs of Old." Fury nodded, looking satisfied with himself. I took a few more steps closer to Fury as Selvig began checking what monitors still stood from the battle.

"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical." Selvig called out, turning back towards Loki.

"Well, then..." Loki, looked at Barton, who didn't even hesitate as he shot Fury. I watched in horror as the director fell to the ground from the blow and threw myself into action as Barton went to grab the case.

"What the fuck, Barton?" I screamed as him as I grabbed a hold of the hand holding onto the case, burning it as much as I possibly could.

"Agent, let go!" He growled as he dropped the case, but pulled his gun on me. I felt the anger spike higher, heat spread throughout me at the fact that Barton would ever think to pull a gun on me. I wasn't thinking as I just put a red hot hand on top of his gun and yanked it to the side right as he fired it, aiming for my temple. The bullet cut through my hand as I melted the chamber it'd just left.

"Leave her!" Loki groaned as I jabbed Barton's stomach, quickly burning through the fabric and cutting into his skin. He jerked back from me right as another burst of blue energy hit my shoulder. I flew backwards, landing a few feet away from Director Fury as he groaned on the floor. I gasped in pain, Fury staring back at me. I made eye-contact then looked down to watch a good chunk of my shoulder regrow itself in a red hot glow of strands.

It was honestly a little gross but this way I had a shoulder. I waited a few minutes, gritting my teeth through the pain up until I felt my nerve endings reconnect before the bone, muscle, and skin regrew over itself.

"Hill, do you copy?!" Fury had grabbed a radio and was trying to grit his teeth as he pushed his fingers into a wound. I shifted myself towards him, my shoulder was nearly complete in it's design as I did so.

"Barton is..." He gasped as he fished for his bullet.

"Sorry, sir." I pushed his hand away and pursed my lips in a straight line as I pulled the bullet out with more ease, we just didn't have time for this.

"Do what you gotta do, Piety." Fury seemed resigned as he gritted his teeth. I threw the bloody casing to the side as I pushed my finger back into the wound and attempted to super heat it to cauterize his wound. Burning human flesh smells absolutely terrible, let me tell you. Its like burning your hair, that smell sticks around in your nostrils and your clothes for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

_**O...O I see you people out there, clicking...reading...not reviewing**_

 _ **I see you.**_

 _ **0.0**_

* * *

It took Fury all of 5 seconds to hop up and start running, I was little confused at the sudden need for speed but followed him at a nice jog pace for myself. We came down to the lower level to find it'd been overturned with burns and casings laying all over the place.

I guess Hill had gotten the message that Barton wasn't with us anymore but she was gone herself. I frowned as the building shook once more, men ran past us as Fury's radio went off.

"You're clear, sir! You need to go to the helipad!" Coulson's voice sounded tense through static as I looked back to see pipes drop, nearly missing Fury's heel. Shit. Almost died right there. I looked back at files, all over the floor and stopped before we got into the helicopter. I looked back towards the pad to see that Fury had stopped ahead of me.

"I should stay and collect what I can, sir." I yelled to him over the sound of blades cutting through the air and a loud motor drilling on in the background. He shook his head quickly.

"No ma'am! You're going to help me get that motherfucker, Piety!" Fury grunted his command over the obnoxious sounds, shooing me towards the seats in the Helicopter. When Fury started cussing, it was time to do what needed to be done so I got into the helicopter despite being sure I'd gone deaf as Fury handed me ear protection.

I looked over my should to see blue streaks of light jut out over the entire complex I had just been in. Wow. I would have totally died right there, damn man. I mean I could regrow some parts but a blast like that meant I'd be down for the count. Pursing my lips in a thin line at the thought, I gazed with disbelief as literally the entire complex started falling into a great big hole in the center.

The helicopter suddenly spun around, jolting me lightly. I looked back down at the ground to see a faint blue glow and decided we'd officially caught up to Loki. Fury threw open the door and began firing, I could barely hear the pops of his firearm over the background noise in here. I felt a jerking motion as I moved to sit on the other-side of Fury but stumbled.

The force of whatever just smacked our ass lurched me forwards, all the way out of the door and down. I stared up at Fury, mildly shocked and not quite registering what just happened as wind whistled past my hair.

"FUCK!" Fury's voice was splintered in sound the farther away I got from him and the cockpit. I barely heard him swear as he looked back at me and catapulted himself out.

Hard metal bars stopped my fall and crushed into my back, I'd landed on the lightbar and roof of their car I guess. I gasped for air, this was the _second_ time tonight alone that I'd literally had the air knocked out of me.

"How do you keep coming back?!" An accented and furious voice screamed next to me, I looked to the right to see Loki.

"Maybe I think I'm in love." A small grin graced my face right as two bullets pierced my arm in succession, wiping any smile off of me. Fucking Barton was firing at me from below. Shithead. I elbowed right under me as hard as I possibly could, going through the sheet-metal and attempting to hang on as the car jerked.

Looking back to Loki, I just started kicking as much as I could. Frustration grew in his eyes as he dodged each time and nearly fell over the side when Barton jerked the car again as I retracted my elbow.

"And so, you will be." Loki grinned as he tipped his spear to just barely touch my chest, a blue stream of mist flared over my torso then fizzled out in a great big show of nothing. I raised a brow as I watched him frown at this then try again. Nothing happened the second time as well.

"Wha-" Loki started as I grabbed the spear that still touched my chest and yanked it towards me, startling him. A shot of energy went off, right into my chest this time, panicking me as the force pushed me clear off the top of the truck. The spear had been too close to me to just graze me as he had last time.

A hard bounce off the ground as dust and sand floated over my eyes and into my nose. I guess I didn't really need to breath but it made me feel better. I could smell things when I breathed, but all I could smell right now was something irony and smokey but earthy like wet dirt.

All I could think was the word fuck over and over and over again as I felt blood pool near my arms that were barely attached. Can I actually die? Is _this_ it? This is it, isn't it? Oh jeeze. I'd lived like there were 0 consequences for too long and this is what happened.

"Piety?" My eyes darted to the sound of a familiar voice, I couldn't pick my head up while I was missing half of my spine so I laid and waited for them to come closer.

"Medic needed for Piety!" The voice was closer now, panicked sounding as they spoke into a radio.

"Flare for position." The voice responded, much less interested than I was in what exactly was going to happen to me.

"Really fucked yourself over this time, huh?" I blinked a bit before I recognized Director Fury. I couldn't nod, I tried to open my mouth but I couldn't. I could just stare, trying to communicate how terrified I was right now. Terrified that I'd really done it this time.

"We've got you." Director Fury sat down next to me, seeming to not mind the blood that had rush out of my body as it glowed slightly. He sounded so far away as I stared up at the sky. It seemed like my light was fading slowly, great.

I blinked and found that I wasn't staring up at the sky anymore, I was looking at men in white coats with white masks and blue hair nets. I didn't care to wonder how I got here, I was just tired. I didn't even mind the tubes of black they were filling up next to me.

"Tube one was inserted." A quiet voice whispered above me as I closed my eyes again.

Light blinded me at first, the sound of a steady beeping stirred me awake as I continued to blink. It hurt to look but I felt like I needed to do it finally, like I'd been asleep for a long time. Which is weird, because I can't remember the last time I actually slept. I could nap if I tried but sleep? Not in a long while.

"Cass?" A softer voice called to me this time, forcing my senses to start up again like a great big machine with diesel poured into it.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Come on." The same voice coaxed me sweetly, trying to keep me alert somehow. I felt the dark beckoning me back towards it, it was peaceful and soft feeling.

"Bu..." I started to mumble as air filled my dry throat again. I blinked hard this time, forcing my eyes open to see a redhead sitting next to me.

"Welcome back to the world." Natasha quirked a corner of her mouth up for me, as I tried to do the same for her. I was happy to see her, I just also felt like I'd been ran over by 2 semis.

"How are you feeling?" She stood now, coming closer to my side as she looked down to me. I slapped a hand over my eyes, blinking blearily.

"Like I got hit by a truck." I mumbled grumpily.

"Pretty much did." She let out a light chuckle.

"Woah, woah. You had a pretty good chunk taken out of you." I tried to sit up as she shooed me back down to the bed.

"I'm fine, Nat." I grumbled, trying to sit up again despite the tightness all over my ribs and back.

"Be stubborn then." She rolled her eyes as she sat back down at my level.

"So whats the word? How long was I out?" I began asking rapid-fire questions at her as she gave me another small smile.

"Right back to work as usual. You've been out for about four days but the docs got ya with some more of your virus, Barton is still...in the wind, and the Avengers initiative has been activated." She sighed, looking between me and the windows behind me that revealed a large green forest of sorts. We weren't in the city anymore, I'd been moved to an outpost. The last sentence piqued my interest as I opened my mouth to ask-

"Yes, you have a mission. You get to recruit America's favourite super-soldier." She declared before I could get the words out as she handed me a file with TOP SECRET stamped on the front of it. I opened it slowly, taking note of the bright blue eyes, and cut blonde hair. He was pretty but his file screamed damaged to me.

"Oh fun, he likes to hit the gym in the middle of the night." I sighed, flipping through pages of surveillance and notes by another Agent.

"Yeah. I get to go grab the jolly green giant now, just wanted to stop in and say hey." Nat smiled back at me as I looked up. I gave her a smile in return, I was thankful for her generally taking me under her wing and showing me the ropes. Everyone else was a little thrown by me as a person.

"See ya, Nat." I waved as she winked at me, I figured I'd see her again eventually. I just wasn't sure when. Next stop...New York City. Oh good, city life again.

* * *

After I'd been debriefed and then briefed again by Agent Hill, I was set on my way to New York. I'd been placed in a smaller safe house of Shield while I'd recovered, it was just outside of Norfolk, Virginia. The plane ride to the big apple was minimal enough that I could have some time to actually look around before I started just straight-up stalking Rodgers.

It didn't take me very long to find Captain America, and even shorter of a time to interact with him. I spent day one in surveillance, near him but not reaching out. I just wanted to see how he was feeling I suppose, get an idea of his general disposition. So far he liked to walk around in the morning, and he went to this particular cafe near central park to sit and people watch in the corner.

"Hey." I glanced towards the speaker to see it was indeed Steve Rodgers speaking and sighed to myself, didn't do so great with this.

"Hi." I chirped, attempting to act like I hadn't been following him since yesterday.

"Can I borrow that newspaper when you're done?" He was cute, friendly even.

"Sure. Sorry, I just really like old fashioned things, I guess." I was mildly confused as to why I was sharing this information with him but smiled and nodded as I flipped a page of the paper, looking for the funnies.

"I do too. I'm old fashioned as a person though." He laughed lightly, leaning towards me from his place near the corner table.

"Oh I feel you there. Technology is more trouble than it's worth." I huffed, thinking back to how I'd ended up out for a few days thanks to these needs for new technology.

"Isn't it?" Steve seemed quite involved in our conversation now, getting just as huffy as me.

"Mhm! Things aren't even human anymore" I nodded wholeheartedly at his statement. I wasn't entirely human anymore. Little robots made up most of me...maybe thats why the spear never worked on me?

"Sorry, I should introduce myself. Steve Rodgers." He held out a tanned hand for me to shake with a inquisitive look.

"Cassandra Piety." I grinned a little at his expression and mannerisms but shook his hand nonetheless.

"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress came by once more, just as friendly as she had been last time. I needed to tip her relatively well.

"Uhm..." I paused, thinking about if I wanted to stick around here or if I wanted to back off.

"Can I get two coffees to go, please?" Steve spoke up, looking excitedly at the lady. I raised a brow but humored him enough to wait and see what that was about, his file claimed he was exceptionally polite.

"I was hoping I could talk you into taking a walk with me around there?" He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder towards the expansive park. Steve's bravado had dulled a bit as I stared at him but I nodded nonetheless.

"Sure. I'd love too." I accepted with a small laugh as he seemed to beam.

"Great! I usually run around there but I figure it might actually be nice to take a walk with a pretty lady like you." Steve concluded, sounding as earnest as I'd ever heard a man before.

This was quite possibly a terrible idea...or it'd help me convince him to join up. It seemed like he was all alone in the world right now, like he had no one to talk too and no where that was familiar for him to go back too. He didn't have a home either, I guess. No family. He'd been a relic of the past and now he was just dropped in the middle of New York to either sink or swim.


	5. Chapter 5

**_So this somehow turned into a Steve/OC what can I say?_**

 ** _¯\\_(ツ)_/¯_**

* * *

"So wheres home for a gal like yourself?" Steve asked innocently, making conversation as we went by a particular fountain. I could remember the complete buzz when this guy had been pulled from the ocean as a human ice block...it was hard to connect that to the man that was standing next to me right now.

"I don't think I really have one. My...friends are my home I guess." I shrugged, pulling his leather jacket in a little more around my arms as the wind blew. He'd be an exceptional gentleman, it was a particularly chilly labor day for me. I wasn't sure why considering I'd found it generally easy enough to just heat myself up but Steve seemed to have noticed before I figured out what to do.

"You're a bit of a wanderer then?" Steve surmised, glancing at me as we continued to walk through greenery that had just started to come back to life after New York's winter. It was May 1st, 2012. Wow, how time had flown for me.

"Yeah. Sorta. What about you?" I raised a brow as I looked back to him under his ball-cap's bill.

"I'm trying pretty hard to make this my home but..." He frowned.

"Easier said than done, right?" I finished for him, wanting to somehow brighten his day when I saw snow-cones.

"Have you ever had a snow-cone?" I looked back from the cart to him.

"No?" He furrowed his brow looking unsure as to what those were.

"...Do you know what they are?" I giggled at the confusion on his face. Did they have snow-cones in the 40s? I'm not sure.

"Yeah, when I was in service we would get sent those all the time. I just thought it was too cold...they hurt my teeth back then." He shrugged, glancing between me and the cart we were approaching with some hesitance.

"These will be great then!" I clapped excitedly, darting off to the cart without really thinking about how fast I was going. I paused myself for a moment remembering why I was even in New York right now. I needed to slow my roll here, he couldn't know I wasn't completely human just yet. Not until he fessed up about his little super situation.

"Two please. Cherry and..." I held a finger to my lips as I considered whether or not I wanted lemon or blue raspberry. I already knew his favourite had been Cherry, Agent Peggy Carter had somehow found that out and noted it in his file ages ago.

"Lemon, please." I beamed at the snow-cone man as he nodded, he was a little up there in age. Maybe late 50s. I wonder if I'll ever actually look that old. Probably not. It seemed like aging and the look that came with aging wasn't considered perfect in the nanobot's opinions so I never got close to it. I mainly just looked forever 17.

"I ca-" Steve had caught up right as I handed him the cherry snow-cone with a shush. I dug through my side bag for money, careful to not expose any files to Steve or the general public.

"I've got it. You got the coffees, so its only fair that I grab these." I winked at him briefly, trying to keep him distracted from the fact that I'd already known what he'd want from here without asking. I hadn't considered it a possible slip up until right about now when it connected just how old this guy was. He didn't age either...or if he did, it did _not_ show whatsoever.

"Thank you!" I chirped as I handed the man his money and turned to leave with my own snow-cone.

"Have a good date, you two!" The snow-cone man seemed excited for us as he waved but I was now anything but excited, I was almost embarrassed. I didn't say anything to Steve despite the fact that I know we both heard him.

We didn't say anything else for a few minutes before I looked to see Steve had started chuckling to himself. I raised a brow as I took a bite of my frozen treat.

"What?" I finally asked out loud when he didn't stop laughing to himself.

"I mean...last date I went on was terrible and I'm _pretty_ sure this is actually the longest any woman's talked to me without being forced too." He chuckled, not looking the least upset about anything he'd just listed.

I was nervous he'd get depressed about Agent Carter, mainly because of their final transmissions. Something about a dance that never took place. I almost felt guilty about the fact that I was having fun while I was supposed to just recruit this guy, not make a new friend at kindergarten.

"What happened on your last date? Not that I consider this as a date o-or something!" I'd started out as mainly curious, the date was pre-enlistment so there wasn't a record of it but then I began tripping over words out of nervousness that he thought I thought this was more than what it was. Get your shit together, Cass. You're supposed to be this sexy, slinky, secret agent, damn.

"She didn't think I was all that swell, so I left to go register for the war." He responded with a slow smile, looking away from me towards a small lake we'd come across.

"Which war?" I inquired innocently, like I didn't know almost everything about him already.

"You wanna take a seat?" Steve looked back at me then to the benches behind us. I raised a brow but nodded, why not? I mean kinda random but alright, Cap.

"So...I registered for the second great war." He watched my expression carefully, seeming to expect some kind of outrageous reaction.

"Right..." I trailed off, motioning with my hand for some kind of extra detail here.

"World war II? 1945?" He continued on, still watching my face for that crazy reaction I guess.

"Ah. So you're..." I furrowed my brow, trying to remember how old his file said he was. 90? No. 90 and some change probably.

"94 this year." He announced solemnly. Like this somehow changed everything, I mean if I didn't know for a fact he was 94 and he wasn't all that normal, I'd just assume he was nutso.

"Wow, you're getting up there in age, old man." I grinned, trying to act like I was mildly shocked but accepting.

"You're takin' this a lot better than expected." Steve noted warily, watching my face and body as I shrugged.

"Au contraire." I held up a finger as I added, "I'm a lot weirder than you realise."

"You seem like a nice, normal, dame to me, Cassie." He gave a half smile of doubt as he inspected my features.

"Um..." I nibbled on my lip slightly, as I thought to myself. I think he might be the only person to ever call me Cassie. I've heard Cass, Piety, Cassandra, or just straight up Agent but no Cassie. Not sure why, but it didn't really stick until now I guess.

"Something wrong?" Steve tilted his head now, looking a little concerned for me and I got why. I kept pausing a lot but what he didn't know is that a lot was going on in my head right now.

"No no. It's just..." I sighed as I struggled to figure out whether or not I should show him just how weird I was down to my very skeleton or let this go until tomorrow.

"I've just realised I don't have a place to stay." I thought out loud with a frown. Shit. I'd need to call Hill or Coulson to see if I could use one of the agency's TDY apartments. They were small and dingy but there were around specifically for agents who needed a place to stay while on an assignment.

"You're not from around here?" Steve wondered.

"Nope, just visiting as a break from work in...Niagara Falls." I lied quickly, watching a duck dive under and pop back up, he created a swirl of waves.

"What do you do for work?" His question seemed to come from a place of curiosity but it was making me get nervous sweats. I hadn't thought that far. I should have said I was just visiting a relative here. Shit! Shit! Shit!

"I'm a background investigator for the government." I supplied nervously.

"That sounds like fun." Steve declared with a boyish grin. I was honestly waiting for more questions or some kind of doubt from Rodgers but nothing. Not a single bit of doubt crossed his eyes. He was weirdly trusting of me and I wasn't sure why, was he naive because I was female? Was it just me? Don't be that self-absorbed, Cass. Come on now, you're nothing special.

"No...not really. It makes it really hard to make friends in my line of work." I shrugged, muttering mainly to myself but I had a feeling he'd hear me anyways with that superhuman thing going on. He set his empty wrapper back down on the bench in-between us.

"I can relate to that." Steve sighed as he laid back on the bench, little pieces of paint peeled off as he moved but I doubt he noticed them at all. I picked up his wrapper and combined it with mine, getting up to go throw them away.

"I got it." I looked back as I felt as hand wrapped around my exposed wrist, Steve's expression looked almost like he was sorry he didn't do it sooner.

"Its fine, its just two wrappers and the trashcan's right there." I shrugged, pointing towards the trashcan that was maybe 7 feet away from us with my other hand.

"Well..thank you." He appeared to be nervous or at-least confused as to what he was supposed to do when a female insisted on something. I threw them again in the trashcan when my phone rang...the work phone.

"Piety." I answered the phone, not daring to glance back at Steve who I'm sure could hear everything.

"Is it done yet?" Hill was on call today apparently, checking up on the status of everything.

"In progress. I need transportation say about 1800 tomorrow out of LaGuardia." I responded with little emotion, assuming that either he'd be going or he wouldn't tomorrow.

"Roger that." I could hear her typing away in the background.

"How's Romanoff's mission going?" I inquired casually.

"Worlds always got more shitholes, Piety." Hill sighed, sounded like she'd been difficult to contact.

"Roger. I've gotta run but keep me updated if needed. Oh, and any open TDY places 'round here?" I asked quickly, almost forgetting all together.

"Um...theres one on...East 22nd Street. Check with the door man, he'll drop a key for you." Hill replied quickly, still clacking away on her keyboard.

"Thanks, Hill." I felt a small smile roll over my face, that woman was an unstoppable force sometimes.

"No problem." She called back as the phone went dead. Short on words though.

"Work called, sorry." I turned and walked back to the bench, standing still.

"Yeah...I couldn't help but hear that you're leaving tomorrow." Steve recounted, watching me with some confusion.

"Yup." I nodded, my eyes darting away from his. I was hoping he'd be leaving with me tomorrow.

"I thought you were on vacation though." He expressed his confusion slowly, a mild look of upset covered his face now.

"I think spending most of today with you made this a vacation but truth is, I'm here to drop a bit of a mission on your lap." I confessed quickly, shrugging awkwardly.

"This is better suited for a more private setting, sir." The professionalism was in full tilt as I glanced back to Steve.

"Right." He nodded, standing up and walking in a random direction. I tilted my head, wondering what he was doing but followed him nonetheless.

* * *

"So here is your debriefing package and heres the main file." I announced as soon as the door was locked and he sat down in his own apartment. I just began handing him files and a table from Shield.

I looked around his place as I waited for him to read. It felt retro in here, brown carpet furniture and even a vinyl player. If I were here under different circumstances, I could probably poke around his collection but...this was a business visit.

"So this is a mission..." He surmised after a few minutes.

"Yeah. We've made a bit of a mistake." I pursed my lips out of a mild shame.

"With Hydra's secret weapon." Steve trailed off, reading still.

" Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what Shield thinks, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs these days." I sighed, reminding me of our earlier conversation about new technology.

"And who took it from you guys?" He raised a brow, watching me for an answer.

" He's named Loki, brother of Thor. God of Mischief. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're into getting involved in another war Captain." A tired smile graced my face at the irony here. I was pretty much asking if he was into fighting for America in another war.

"I'll think about it." He stared me down.

"The world has gotten even stranger than you already know." Guilt crept up on me as I looked away. Heat expanded throughout my body, telling me that I was getting a little _too_ flustered.

"You know...at this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." Steve replied sardonically, staring at me as I sighed.

"Well. I'll be going." I nodded slowly, showing myself out after I sat down his jacket on a nearby lounger.

"I leave from LaGuardia at 1800, Rodgers. Theres no second chances." I called out as I paused at the door, I didn't get a response so I just shut it behind me.


End file.
